Ugandan Tabloid Puts Gays at Risk to Sell Papers

The "newspaper" claims gay people are recruiting others to their ranks.

BY Neal Broverman

February 25 2013 4:07 PM ET

The Ugandan tabloid Red Pepper published the names of supposed "gay recruiters" in its Sunday edition.

"Top Uganda Gay Recruiters Busted" reads the front page headline of the Sunday Pepper. By listing names inside the pages, the paper is repeating a move from 2010 when another publication put several Ugandans in harm's way, fearing for their lives after their photos appeared on the cover.

Homosexuality is already illegal in the African nation and LGBT people are routinely attacked there. The nation's parliament is debating a harsh antigay law, known internationally as the "Kill The Gays" bill, that could include a death sentence for some crimes.

Ugandan gay rights activist David Kato experienced death threats after appearing on the infamous list printed by another newspaper called Rolling Stone. Kato, the former advocacy officer for the LGBT group Sexual Minorities Uganda, was murdered in 2011. His killer, Enoch Nsubuga, was sentenced to 30 years in prison after a failed gay panic defense for supposed sexual advances.